Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 13.djvu/273

 REMINISCENCES OF SEVENTY YEARS 265 enough of everything to make any lazy man feel happy. Up to this time there had been no snow at all. Berry went up to the top of the summit with us. We had left him provisions enough for one month, and with a good gun there were plenty of fine squirrels that he could kill. All went well with the emigrants until we started down on the Oregon side of the Cascades. We called it Oregon, as that was all the habitable part of Oregon then. Then the real simon-pure hard times commenced. There were huckleberry swamps to wallow through as best we could ; women and chil- dren had to be carried off of their horse's back to let the horse get out of the mire, if he could, and if he could not we had to pry him out. Of course, these, swamps were only in spots. The old gent expected to corduroy all these places before he took the wagons over them. But they were worse than he thought, as he had only crossed them on foot. But when we went to put horses on them, packed with heavy loads, they went down frequently. So we moved very slowly, only from three to five miles a day. It commenced snowing and that covered up the grass and our horses had to browse on the laurel. We were now at the top of Laurel Hill. We camped for the night and there was about twelve inches of snow on the ground. One of our best horses died from eating laurel. The old gent saved his harness and brought it up to camp. Mother said, "Poor, old Grey is dead, but I hope his meat is good, and we will not starve so long as we can eat horse meat." Mrs. Caplinger broke down at this and commenced crying right out. Mrs. Gaines, my oldest sister, said, "What is the matter ?" Mrs. Caplinger replied, "We are all going to freeze and starve to death right here." "Nonsense," said Mrs. Gaines, "we are right in the midst of plenty. Plenty of wood to make fires, plenty of horses to make meat, plenty of snow to make water, so when it comes to starving here is your old dog as fat as butter and he will last us a week." "Would you eat my old dog?" "Yes, if he were the last dog in the world," Mrs. Gaines concluded.